Screen 2: Power Of Attorney
You may have heard the terms "capacity" and "incapacity". Capacity means that you can receive information, make an informed decision about health care and communicate that decision. While you have capacity, you can make all of your own health care decisions and you can write your Advance Directive. When you no longer have capacity, someone else must step in to make those decisions for you. Capacity must be determined by two doctors. You can choose ahead of time who can speak to the doctors for you and make decisions for you when you can't do so for yourself. This person is called your agent and the form we use to appoint that person is called a Power of Attorney. If you never choose an agent or create a Power of Attorney, Virginia law decides who makes those decisions for you. If you want to choose a trusted person to be your voice in health care decision making, you must do so now while you have capacity and put that choice in writing such as the document you are currently creating. You can decide in detail who that person would be and what powers you want that person to have. You can give your agent full power to make all of your health care decisions or limit their power in any way you like. By creating a Power of Attorney, you do not give up any of your independence or power to make your own decisions because your agent only steps in when you can no longer make your own decisions.
NOTE: If you have NOT created a Medical Directive AND/OR designated an agent, also known as a Medical Power of Attorney (MPOA), and you lose your ability to make decisions, under Virginia law, the highest available person on the following list will become your decision-maker:
1. Guardian
2. Spouse
3. Adult Children
4. Parents
5. Siblings
6. Other relatives in order of relationship
NEXT - Screen 3: Medical Directive
BACK to Screen 1: Introduction
141
Group
16
574
